Carta para Marco Aurélio

O dia 26 de abril de 2021 é um marco para o Estoicismo: 1900 anos do nascimento de Marco Aurélio. Para celebrar a data, o portal Modern Stoicism lançou uma seleção de textos “Odes To Marcus Competition“. Compartilhamos com vocês o texto “A Letter to Marcus Aurelius”, de Lina Távora, selecionado em 8o lugar na competição. 

Dear Marcus Aurelius,

Since 2020, we are living in a Pandemic. In Brazil, we are still facing an increasing number of deaths – and other evils that come along, like misinformation and neglect for the common good. So I remembered you.

You would never say, “so what?” Amid the Plague, you stayed, you sold the Crown’s treasures, and you listened to the science available to you at the time. You followed your epithets and acted accordingly. You handled it, endured it, and contributed to the common good. You lived well and died well, as a true Stoic, even though you only considered yourself as a student. Maybe it is where there lies your strength, never seeing your philosophy’s journey as finished. 

Your losses were not few, but since you took the course of the Stoics, mentored by Rusticus, guided by the lessons of Epictetus, you embraced this philosophy and transformed the difficulties in apprenticeship. Maybe you always had it in you, as Antoninus saw. And you perfected it. 

You believed that justice was the source of the other virtues, and your actions confirmed this statement. Whether as a ruler, whether facing the epidemic or facing your own end, your character is your greatest legacy. 

This is what is expected of sages, philosophers, citizens, and a government. On your birthday, we remember – by your story – that we must act with empathy for the people, the pain, and the losses that surround us.

Farewell.

* Publicamos em inglês, como escrito e publicado no portal Modern Stoicism.

Dia 24 de abril de 2021 também é um marco para nós. Completamos dois anos de estudo e compartilhamento da filosofia Estoica aqui com vocês. Só temos a agradecer a essa caminhada.